A digital video recorder (DVR) or personal video recorder (PVR) is a device that records media content, such as video, in a digital format to a disk drive or other storage medium. A user may schedule selected media content to be recorded, either to a local storage device within a DVR or PVR, or to a remote media server accessible through a communications network. In addition to scheduling a recording, the user may add the selected content to a favorites list, set a reminder for the media content, or schedule an entire series for recording. The recorded media content can then be accessed by a variety of electronic devices, such as a television or personal computer, capable of video playback, and connected to the DVR or PVR through the network.
The ease at which users can record media content often results in over-recording. For example, after missing several weeks of a recorded series, a user may have dozens of recorded, unseen episodes available on a DVR or remote media server. The user may not have time to watch all the recorded episodes or even be interested in watching them. Over time, DVRs or other media storage devices may be full, requiring users to delete previously-recorded media content before additional media content can be recorded. Many DVRs automatically delete media to make room for scheduled recordings in a manner where users have little or no control over what is deleted.